Posts Tagged ‘malvani’

Producer Ahmed Khan and lead actor Shahid Kapoor have donated school utilities used for their film to three schools that needed them

By Sonal Chawla (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 31, 2009)

Although choreographer-turned-producer Ahmed Khan’s Paathshala’s shooting is over, the props used for the film’s shooting are still in use. Ahmed and Shahid Kapoor, the film’s lead actor, donated the props used for the film – school bags, notebooks, benches and stationery to three needy schools teaching underprivileged children. The film is directed by Milind Ukey.

Paathshala deals with contemporary and socially relevant issues regarding children’s education. Ahmed had erected a massive set of a school at Film City where classrooms, dormitories, the principal’s cabin, staff rooms, huge corridors, a basket ball court, garden, assembly hall, music room and canteen were recreated.

Ahmed says, “We had several benches, school uniforms, school bags, notebooks and stationery that we used for the film. After the shooting, we decided to donate all these basic school utility items to the underprivileged kids studying in schools.”

The items have been donated to two schools in Mumbai, one in Malad and the other in Malvani and a third school (a nursery), on the outskirts of Pune.

“We had several children acting in our film. Some were child actors who auditioned for the part, while others were underprivileged kids from the slums. It was because of the latter that we decided to help the needy schools. Apart from the benches that we made for the film, we made some more benches at our cost and donated them as well. Why not help them out in our small way by providing basic infrastructure?” adds Ahmed. The film also stars Ayesha Takia and Nana Patekar.